Thoughts on the Verizon Max data plan??

I received an email from VZW since I am eligible for an upgrade right now. I currently have unlimited data that like most dread giving up.

So, the email offers a "Max" plan which offers 6GB of data per month for $10 less a month I pay for unlimited now. I can upgrade at the subsidized price as well. 6GB would be more than enough for me as I seem to use between 1.8 to 2GB per month. Most ever is a tad over 2GB.

It seems fishy to me though because it also requires I sign up for the Edge program, and I am not crazy about it. It allows me to upgrade more often, but I think I'd be paying more in the long run, then just saving up and buying a new phone at full price.

I respect everyone's opinion here, and enjoy coming on the forum very much. I think I'll get some honest answers and opinions here, so please...

I received an email from VZW since I am eligible for an upgrade right now. I currently have unlimited data that like most dread giving up.

So, the email offers a "Max" plan which offers 6GB of data per month for $10 less a month I pay for unlimited now. I can upgrade at the subsidized price as well. 6GB would be more than enough for me as I seem to use between 1.8 to 2GB per month. Most ever is a tad over 2GB.

It seems fishy to me though because it also requires I sign up for the Edge program, and I am not crazy about it. It allows me to upgrade more often, but I think I'd be paying more in the long run, then just saving up and buying a new phone at full price.

I respect everyone's opinion here, and enjoy coming on the forum very much. I think I'll get some honest answers and opinions here, so please...

Thank you!!

Yes edge program does have 6gb data for 30 a month vs the normal 2 it's a legit offer

Have another line brief thought, but don't need a new phone bad enough. I am concerned Verizon will eventually find a way to take away unlimited for all of us, especially those no longer on contracts like me. I pay on time, and have been a customer for many years, but with no contract they must honor, I can see it being taken away.

This "Max" thing sounded fairly good since it's 6GB and I never come even close to that, so figured I would never need to be concerned about going over. But, I have NO desire to join the Edge program seeing as how it appears you pay more for the phone in the long run and your bill is higher per month.

Have another line brief thought, but don't need a new phone bad enough. I am concerned Verizon will eventually find a way to take away unlimited for all of us, especially those no longer on contracts like me. I pay on time, and have been a customer for many years, but with no contract they must honor, I can see it being taken away.

This "Max" thing sounded fairly good since it's 6GB and I never come even close to that, so figured I would never need to be concerned about going over. But, I have NO desire to join the Edge program seeing as how it appears you pay more for the phone in the long run and your bill is higher per month.

Thanks to all for the thoughts and replies!

I always found the verizon CSRs to be quite helpful. I'd give them a call, explain your situation and see what they say. Can't hurt. And being a faithful customer does still have some benefits (though less and less it seems each day unfortunately)

I was able to get the Verizon Max plan and keep my upgrade and I just ended up paying $300 for the iPhone 5s 32GB. The lady at Verizon never said anything about paying the full price for the phone. Luckily I benefited from her not knowing that Edge is a requirement for Max

I always found the verizon CSRs to be quite helpful. I'd give them a call, explain your situation and see what they say. Can't hurt. And being a faithful customer does still have some benefits (though less and less it seems each day unfortunately)

To the OP, if you don't have an answer to your question yet, head over to the thread in this forum where Neurodave, a VZW manager, is answering questions.

I did stop at a Verizon store and asked about it. I spoke to two different reps while meandering around the store, and both said the Max plan only available with Edge. They weren't going to allow one without the other.

As mentioned by a few people, I don't need a new phone bad enough to switch right now or get a second line just to get a new phone. I'm just concerned they will eventually take away the unlimited and force something else since I am not on contract. Max sounds good, but not Edge..not after doing the math.

My wife and I recently bought 2 64gb 5s' from the apple store at full retail. We don't use more than 2gb a month each, and were willing to get rid of the unlimited data, but were being forced onto a share everything plan (my mother-in-law has a regular phone with our family plan). Well the share everything with 4gb of data was about $50 a month more (or $1,200 more over 2 years) than we are currently paying for 700 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data. It made more sense to pay full retail.

Well when I called to activate our new phones, the Verizon Rep told me that we didn't have to get rid of our plan and that for a penny more than the unlimited plan we could get 6gb each (which is way more than we would need) with the Max data plan. She said that this was being offered to anyone with an unlimited plan that didn't want to pay full retail for a new device. We also did NOT have to sign up for the Edge program.

It seems that the rep at the Apple Store really didn't know what he was talking about (with us having to leave our family plan), only thing you have to leave is unlimited data. Also, this plan is NOT an available option for Apple Store, it must be done through Verizon. We ended up having to call Verizon while we were at the Apple Store to have it added to our account.

I did stop at a Verizon store and asked about it. I spoke to two different reps while meandering around the store, and both said the Max plan only available with Edge. They weren't going to allow one without the other.

That works fine if you've got someone to give the dumbphone to. I'm not paying more money every month for something I don't need. It makes no sense.

If you have 2 or more unlimited lines it makes sense financially to do it where I live given my taxes, fees and surcharges.

Here is my example:

Dummy line = $13/mo where I live.

I got a subsidized iPhone when I added the line = $200 + tax + activation fee = $250. After pay pal fees, listing fees and shipping, I cleared $575 on the iPhone. $575 - $250 = $325. Dummy line costs $312 for 24 months so I actually made $13 on the deal. AND I now have a line to transfer my unlimited data upgrades to.

Every 24 months I get an upgrade on the dummy line and can repeat this process so that the dummy line pays for itself.